What Everyone is Getting Wrong About Zohran Mamdani's Primary Win for Mayor

Much of the coverage I have seen in the days after Zohran Mamdani’s decisive victory over Andrew Cuomo centered around two things — charisma and Instagram. In prescribing a new way forward for the Democratic party, articles and opinions from Ezra Klein and other mainstream liberal publications have proclaimed that the Mamdani campaign is the blueprint for how social media and a good personality will win tough races. Missing from all of this rhetoric is the class politics and organizing that set Mamdani’s campaign apart.

For decades, neoliberal dogma has led the move rightward for Democrats — think Bill Clinton welfare reform, tax cuts for the rich. Abandoning the working class, Democrats and Republicans have waged class war for the rich — against the poor — and pushed the country further, and now into, a fascist Trump regime. The way to fight back (at least electorally) is through class politics.

Mamdani had a very clear campaign, one that was focused on working class issues, refusing to make concessions or play into right wing tropes. For years, Democrats have been messaging towards an imaginary working class that they claim is slightly racist, increasingly transphobic and suddenly hates immigrants. Governor Gavin Newsom said that trans women playing in women’s sports was “deeply unfair,” and Kamala Harris attempted to outflank Trump on immigration in her 2024 presidential campaign. But this demographic only exists in the minds of party consultants and politicians. Instead of creating the narrative, Democrats have been following polling data pushed by nativist Republican rhetoric for years. The perceived threat of immigrants in the minds of the American public that shows up in polling data comes out of real economic fears and instability.

For years, Democrats have been messaging towards an imaginary working class that they claim is slightly racist, increasingly transphobic and suddenly hates immigrants...But this demographic only exists in the minds of party consultants and politicians.

Instead of showing his disdain for immigrants or the “woke mob” like so many others in the Democratic party, Mamdani stuck to a script of affordability from a working-class perspective. He was consistent and clear on his key positions: freezing the rents, fast and free buses, and no cost childcare. With an excellent social media strategy, he was able to build name recognition and initial support, making trendy videos that put the affordability crisis front and center. But it was his relentless focus on class politics that shifted the entire race, moving every campaign to acknowledge issues of everyday New Yorkers, and this reflects in the polling. A February poll by the Manhattan Institute found crime and public safety as voters’ top issue at 49%. In June, housing was tied with public safety at 25% and 26% respectively. Multiple candidates mentioned taking the bus at the two primary debates, a centerpiece of the Mamdani campaign, and even Cuomo himself had to give a little, putting out a policy paper which included “Evaluat[ing] the Expansion of Fare-Free Bus Pilot.”

There is also a limit to the amount of people you can reach on social media. Lots of people are not engaged with politics on Instagram, let alone those that don’t engage with social media at all. That’s why old-school canvassing and door knocking is still so important. With fifty thousand volunteers that knocked on over one and a half million doors, the kind of grassroots campaigning not seen since Bernie 2016 and AOC’s first run, Mamdani was able to reach people where they were at — in their neighborhoods and on their stoops. With an economic populist message, Mamdani was able to beat one of the biggest names in New York politics.

Democrats will have you believing that a young, Israel-lobby funded candidate is the next Zohran because he has “rizz” on Instagram, with a policy platform about “abundance” — buzzwords that ultimately translate to policies of privatization and deregulation. You can have a great Instagram and make videos that appeal to a younger audience, but unless viewers like what you are saying, they won't hit the like and follow button, much less vote! It's policies which aim to give working people some sense of dignity that keeps people interested. If Democrats voted on name recognition alone, Cuomo would have won handily. Mamdani beat him by 12 points in the 3rd round of ranked choice voting because people liked what he had to say, not just how he said it.

Trump gained more ground in New York State this past presidential election than any other state in the country (despite NY going for Kamala Harris). Within NYC, this was most present in the Bronx and Queens. The neighborhoods and districts that swung for Trump also voted for Mamdani.

Trump sold a vision of affordability — that you would be better off with him as president than you were under Biden — while redirecting anger from economic instability towards immigration, trans people and other reactionary culture war issues. Real pain of economic instability — rising rents, and other results of the ever increasing wealth gap — were used to sell a lie. The extreme alienation and disaffection that late stage capitalism brings is scary. Disaffected youth, many of them young men, fell for a trap in which insecurity and toxic masculinity was used as a tool of the Right — all for the promise of economic freedom and control over one's own life. Trump used real economic insecurity and manufactured fear to win the presidential election.

These political trends aren’t going to be fixed by getting a Dem podcast bro, or shifting rightward on culture war issues. Throwing trans people under the bus doesn’t win elections. Instead, it is a militant focus on class politics which can energize a base that has long been left behind by a Democratic party run by the same people that didn’t get you your house back in 2008, and has killed tens of thousands of children in Gaza.

Mamdani was able to energize young voters by sticking to issues that actually affect them, like rent and free buses. People aged 18-34 were the highest voting demographic in the primary, and were also where Mamdani had the most support — he had a 2 to 1 lead with voters under 50 according to Emerson polling. His strength on principles of equality and justice, and focus on economic issues — not imaginary culture war battles — won back a constituency that is desperately needed in the face of fascism. Young people are the ones that have the time, ability, and most to gain from fighting the coming onslaught of authoritarian policies from the Trump administration.

Mamdani’s unflinching pro-Palestine stance, an issue that is resoundingly popular among young Democrats, showed strength in a directionless Democratic Party, which has lost its moral high ground after financing Israel’s genocide. Palestine is no longer the “third rail” of American politics. Everyone has seen the videos of children mutilated by bombs and burned alive. The Democratic party can no longer hide the atrocities of Israel. Polling now suggests that 60% of Democrats are more sympathetic with Palestinians. The attacks on Zohran over his refusal to “bend the knee” to Israel don’t work when the voters are pro-Palestine themselves.

By building a left coalition with support from New York City Democratic Socialists of America, Working Families Party, Brad Lander, and so many others, Mamdani was able to use policy and solidarity to bring young people and the working class back into the fold. That’s what makes a campaign — not fun Instagram videos, although those do help. But everyone could use a free and fast bus. Everyone needs affordable housing and stable rent. Every parent would benefit from free childcare and cheap groceries. These are the things that can bring people together. Not a politics of capitulation, but one of unflinching focus on class issues and solidarity with those who are under attack — the poor, immigrants, and trans people. Mamdani has shown that a staunchly pro-Palestine lefty politician can win the New York Democratic primary for mayor.

The Bay Area needs a Zohran of its own — a candidate that focuses on affordability from a working-class perspective and a message of solidarity — and doesn’t capitulate to the growing tech and real estate oligarchy in San Francisco. We must build a movement outside of the capitalist hellscape that has become the Democratic Party if we want The Bay to be a place for working-class families.